Ribeirão Prêto, city in southeastern Brazil, in São Paulo state, near Rio Pardo. The major city of the northeastern part of the state, it is a road and rail hub and a distribution center for a large coffee-growing and livestock-breeding area and for pioneer settlements to the west. Cotton, sugarcane, and grains are cultivated near the city, which is at the center of a region that produces 70 percent of the nation's orange juice and 30 percent of its sugarcane alcohol fuel. The city also has a number of breweries, cotton and rice mills, and meat-packing plants. Manufactures include machinery, steel, textiles, dairy products, furniture, and building materials. Ribeirão Prêto is one of several cities in the interior of the state of São Paulo that experienced rapid economic and population growth in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Low crime, low pollution, and an abundance of jobs enticed many Brazilians to move to the state's interior, away from the crowded and crime-ridden state capital, São Paulo. Population (1996 estimate) 456,252.
